DJ Akademiks Claims Drake Angered UMG By Working With Other Labels & Competitors

There are so many theories and interpretations when it comes to Drake’s legal move against Universal Music Group and Spotify that it completely moves past the Kendrick Lamar beef into something much greater. Moreover, DJ Akademiks has unsurprisingly covered this petition extensively, and he recently offered some more thoughts as to what could’ve provoked this. The general theory is that Drizzy actually wants out of his UMG contract and has unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a better deal for himself. The success of “Not Like Us” was the final straw, and what seemed to show him that the music industry will kick him out as quickly as they welcomed him in.

Basically, DJ Akademiks posited that UMG was also angry at Drake for working with their competitors, which then led to unfulfilled renegotiations. Some examples that the media personality brought up include an OVO deal with a Sony Music joint venture, the Toronto superstar’s previous affiliation with Warner, and his support of Gamma and new artists like Sexyy Red. He spread his influence throughout the whole industry, and UMG is allegedly and hypocritically peeved at this search of monopoly.

Meanwhile, other commentators and hip-hop cultural figures chose to play the comparison game rather than look at Drake’s actions individually. For example, during a recent episode of the My Expert Opinion podcast, Math Hoffa claimed that UMG actually favored Kendrick Lamar’s deal over the 6ix God’s because they benefitted more from those splits. Many pushed back against this allegedly inaccurate narrative that Kendrick makes them more money than Aubrey, but it’s a valid assumption when none of us really know for sure.

Regardless of what will happen with this legal petition and the precedent it could set, it’s very clear that Drake will endure a very strained relationship with UMG moving forward. We wouldn’t express shock if their partnership completely fell out, or if UMG fought tooth and nail to keep him under their watchful eye and commercial control. After all, the OVO mogul is an absolute titan of the industry. But with so many doubts and assumptions, we’re hoping for some clarification.